


its okay to be burnt (as long as you let me heal)

by peachybirb



Series: It's Not Easy Alone [1]
Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: "Instead of talking about our problems lets just be cryptic with nice actions", Angst, Captives, F/F, Horde primes ship, Prisoners, Redemption
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-18
Updated: 2019-12-18
Packaged: 2021-02-26 12:40:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,728
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21849799
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peachybirb/pseuds/peachybirb
Summary: “I didn’t save Etheria. The heroes did. I’m no hero.”“You can be. You don’t have to stay with the Horde. All that’s left of it is scrap metal anyway. Come, join us in Brightmoon.”“I don’t know Adora.”“Please. It will be better there. You will be safe. We can be safe, together… forever.”Catra turned back, longing showing in her different colored eyes.“You promise.”“Promise.”__when catra and glimmer get stuck on Horde Prime's ship, it would be easy for them to stay enemies. but it is never easy, is it.
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Adora/Glimmer (She-Ra), Catra/Glimmer (She-Ra)
Series: It's Not Easy Alone [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1630738
Comments: 1
Kudos: 162





	its okay to be burnt (as long as you let me heal)

**Author's Note:**

> hey guys! i finished after taking one of my finals so if it seems a little drained at the end that's why. also, ive figured that instead of trying to write a coherent story with flow, im just gonna make confusing time jumps. haha. anyway, enjoy!

“Didn’t love-trust-need-left-you.”

___

“Come on! Work!” 

The shrill exclamation of effort interrupted Catra’s not so deep slumber. It would be a lie to say she wasn’t glad for the interruption. It wasn’t like her dream was going anywhere pleasant. Opening her eyes, Catra strained even with her night vision to see in the dark. The ground was cold and seemed like it had frozen her blood from the long-time she was sitting there. 

Grunting, Catra sat up, instantly clutching her head to try to ward off her pounding headache. Glancing around, it seems she was in a prison cell with green shining bars that Catra recognized as the same ones they had at the Horde. However, looking closer, these bars had First One's writings in the bars, cascading down the bar like a never-ending code. Look at you Catra, a prisoner, once again.

A flash of purple and pink light made Catra’s fur stand on end. The light dissipated suddenly as it had appeared. How had she not noticed the obvious presence of another person, let alone the princess of Brightmoon, in the cell with her? The princess- Sparkles?- grunted and exclaimed again out of pain as the light flickered away. 

Catra hated magic. Like, really hated magic. You could say it was like magic had killed her parents, and well Catra didn’t know, but she could assume. Her hatred for magic started out early, Shadow Weaver's relentless use of her dark magic had ingrained a certain hatred in her brain, along with most magic users being princesses. It only worsened when Adora had left to be a magic adept princess with all new magic loving and magic using stupid frilly princesses that took Adora away from-

“Oh good. You’re awake,” Glimmer’s voice was final and was encrypted with venom and hate. 

“Yep. Slept beautifully for your information.” Catra knew her deep bags were still evident in the dark. And the cracks and dryness of her voice probably didn’t sound very intimidating. 

“Look what you did. Now, we are Horde Prime’s prisoners.” Glimmer accused. Catra immediately went to deny deny deny like she was used to, but she stopped herself. 

“That seems to be the case.” 

“This is probably what you wanted from the beginning, huh?” Catra’s silence seemed to fuel Glimmer’s anger. “Were you even friends with Adora back in the Horde, or were you just trying to manipulate her into becoming the key for this whole mess?!” Glimmer huffed, forgetting to take a breath while speaking. She was ready to go back into a yelling fit before she heard weak sniffling. It was hard to see in the dark but seeing the way tears glowed in the green hue of the bars, she knew hat Catra was crying. 

“I…” Catra started, wiping her eyes. “I don’t even know. Was I?” She wasn’t talking to Glimmer, that much was obvious. Glimmer felt conflicted. Her enemy was in front of her crying and wallowing in self-doubt. Was she supposed to comfort her, take advantage of her vulnerability or stay silent? Catra decided for her. “I… I’m sorry about your mom.” 

____

“Get in there you dirty animal.” The Prime guard spat as he threw Catra into hers and Glimmer’s shared cell. She landed with a thud and a groan. She didn’t dare open her eyes, there was blood leaking from her forehead and she knew for a fact that blood in your eye isn’t the best feeling. She also knew her left one was swollen shut. The tried to sniff but instead got a nose full of blood and pain shooting through her head. She glanced to where she could hear Glimmer breathing loudly and asked,

“Does it look broken to you?” 

Glimmer scoffed at the question but answered anyway, “Yes. Yes, it does.” 

“God, stupid fu-” Glimmer interrupted her string of curses. 

“What did they even do to you?”

It was Catra’s turn to scoff. Had these princesses really not been exposed to real war like she had. War was torture, interrogations, and blood. It was death and mourning… No. Catra thought, she does know what war is like. She just knows it from the side of good.

“Interrogation. This is what happens when you don’t cooperate.” She chuckled, hoping that her laugh would lighten up the mood. It didn’t. Instead, Glimmer kept asking questions. 

“What did they ask you?”

“Oh, things like, how did we manage to open a portal, where the weapon was and how could they activate it- which I sincerely didn't know. Things like, who is She-Ra, how do you defeat Bright Moon, how to take down a rune stone, you know, the basics.”

“And they left you like that?”

“Well yeah. You’re gonna let someone who doesn’t answer your questions off scot-free? Well, I guess my answer was more a fuck off and flipping them the bird.” Catra laughed at her own joke, somewhat bitter. 

“Well no- wait. You didn’t tell them anything?” 

“Don’t let it go to your head Sparkles,” Catra snapped, deciding to curl up in the corner, “I… I have no idea what they would have done with that kind of information. Etheria is my home too.”

Glimmer furrowed her brow. Catra seemed to have a knack for being confusing and cryptic. For all Glimmer knows, Catra could be lying and could have made a plan with Horde Prime to get information out of Glimmer while her defenses were down. Taking a second look at Catra, Glimmer started to doubt her accusation. Bruises littered Catra’s body, two of her fingers looked broken and her nose was a whole other story. Glimmer looked to the side, feeling ashamed for thinking that Catra would betray her like that. 

Catra shot up as Glimmer tentatively touched her shoulder and hissed. “What do you think you’re doing?!” Glimmer brought her hand back to her chest before taking off her cape. She silently ripped the fabric, sending a shiver down Catra’s back. Glimmer took the now ripped cloth and started to slowly wrap it around a bad cut that went from her right knee to her mid-calf. Catra just watched her, a bewildered expression on her beaten face. 

“Thank you. For not telling them anything,” Glimmer uttered and started to asses Catra’s broken fingers. 

“Yeah...”

___

“Glimmer! Stop, you’re hurting yourself!” Catra yelled over the sound of electricity crackling and Glimmers shouts. Glimmer was clutching the green bars, pink sparkles flickering in and out of her hands. 

“I will not,” She grunted again as she almost fell to her knees, “be a prisoner!” With one last shout, there was a bright flash and the sound of large machinery dying. The prison went dark and the bars disappeared. Glimmer smiled in joy then collapsed to the ground in exhaustion. 

“Shimmer! You can’t do that!” Catra was by her side immediately, checking for any injury. There wasn’t much other than her burned hands. Catra bit her lip and exhaled. She looked around for something to bandage her hands. She took her fingerless gloves off and put them on Glimmers. Glimmer winced at the touch on her exposed skin but it was better than letting the burn get infected. 

The new sound of heavy footsteps startled the two into attention. If Glimmer hadn’t had been so impulsive then maybe they would find a way to get out of here. When the Horde Prime clones appeared the cell entrance, their faces were expressionless. Catra hissed and protectively covered Glimmer with her body. 

Stupid Princess. You can’t get yourself into these messes alone. 

____

Glimmer opened her eyes slowly. Instantly she groaned, the headache felt like she was being run over and over with a Horde tank. She recovered and saw Catra sitting next to her with her back turned to her. She was mumbling to herself, something that Glimmer couldn’t make out. Glimmer slowly sat up. The second thing she noticed was that the green laser bars had now been replaced with a total green force field. There were also handcuffs made of heavy metal with a glowing green rope holding them together. 

Looking over Catra’s shoulder, she saw many drawings that looked like battle plans. Some had X’s over O’s and others were completely scribbled out. Catra was using her index claw to draw a new one out. She was mumbling things until she growled, frustrated, and scribbled out the plan. Suddenly, Catra’s fur stood on end and her body tensed. Then she relaxed and said, “Good. You’re awake.” Catra rubbed her temple and pinched her broken nose before wincing and realizing that habit was going to have to change. “We need to make up a plan to get out of here. We can’t just wait for a rescue team anymore. We also can’t be impulsive anymore. We need to plan instead of jumping headfirst into danger.” 

Glimmer’s face heated up when she realized what Catra was implying. Glimmer wanted to argue, prove that she was right, but she knew that that argument would have been a loss before she started it. She hadn’t even told Catra she was going to try to sizzle off the bars. She didn’t think about how far away they were from her runestone or what would happen afterward. What she had done had put herself and others in danger. It could have hurt- and did- hurt others. She didn’t listen and to protect her own self-image, she went behind her friends back because she just couldn’t handle being wrong and- 

“Woah, Sprinkles, are you crying? You didn’t hurt yourself too much right?” Catra was by Glimmer’s side and Glimmer didn’t even correct her on the wrong name. 

“I should have listened to Adora.” 

“You’re not alone in that.”

____

“Now!” Catra yelled as she charged on the clones, quickly tearing out the power gem in their suit of armor. The clone powered off in a sleep mode, trying to adjust its computer systems to the sudden change of power. Catra moved to the next clone, giving a swift kick to its head, wincing as her foot connected awkwardly with the metal surface. Catra continued her kick though, only making the clones head spin. Catra, slightly freaked out, wasn’t expecting the metal hand to grab at her neck. The clone lifted her up, Catra’s feet scratching at the ground. 

“You will obey the Prime Order.” Catra choked out and struggled against the clone's metal grip. 

“Leave her alone!” Sparkles filled Catra’s vision as she was abruptly dropped to the ground. She coughed and struggled to stand up. Gripping the wall, she crawled her way to her feet. The Horde Prime clone was on the ground, deactivated, sparkles radiating off its mechanical corpse. Glimmer and Catra locked eyes, a look of disbelief matching both faces. Catra cleared her throat and looked away. 

“Into the vent, let’s go.” Catra went into place, bending one knee and holding her hands in a cusp. Glimmer took the hint and put her foot in Catra’s hands, bouncing off of the ground- and with Catra’s extra push- was able to make it into the vent. Adjusting herself, Glimmer reached her hand out to Catra. Catra took one last look down the hallway. 

Four Prime clones were running towards them with stun batons blazing. Catra smirked and stuck her tongue out, giving them the finger. They stopped, slightly shocked. Catra laughed and grabbed Glimmer’s hand saying, “Smell ya later fuckers!” 

Inside the vents were small and hot. It was incredibly hard to breathe and Catra felt like she might die of heat exhaustion. She watched Glimmer crawl forward, taking the path they had agreed on. Left, right, right, straight, left, left, right, straight until finally, they reached a grate. Glimmer at first tried punching the grate, failing and crying out in pain. 

“Stop. Move over.” Glimmer crawled past the grate and struggled to turn around. Catra put her claws on each of the screws, twisting her finger and unscrewing a screw on each corner. “Now punch it.” 

Glimmer smiled and punched the grate in. It fell to the ground with a clatter. They both looked at each other and smiled then proceeded to jump down into the room.

The room was a variety of wires and buttons. Large metal cases holding wires and wires and wires, each different colors and each having different purposes. On the right side, there was a large computer displaying different readings and information. There was a window on the computer laying out the amount of air in the ship and outside the ship, a video camera of the throne room. Looking at one window, it was a camera of the loading dock. Upon closer look, the window was flashing red in danger with large bold letters at the bottom of the screen. 

ENEMY SHIP BOARDED

All it took was a flash of a blonde ponytail and a bow to give Glimmer hope. 

“They came back for you,” Catra said, bittersweet seeping through her veil of nonchalant. 

“No, they came back for us. Look.” Catra gasped when she saw the red claws and scorpion tail. She smiled, and if you asked her if she would deny there were tears in her eyes. Shaking her head she remembered her directive. 

“Hurry, pull any wires you see,” Catra ordered, ripping the heavy metal plate over what looked like an engine. She began to pull all the wires out, not stopping at the electric shocks. After that, she began to smash and button she saw, red, blue, green, flashing it didn’t matter. Taking a glance, she saw Glimmer start to mess with the large computer's control pad, pushing up levers and messing with dials. Suddenly the whole room was flashing red and started to tilt. Catra grabbed onto the sealed door frame and smashed in the keypad, it opens in an instant. “Grab my hand!” 

Glimmer lunged forwards grabbing onto Catra’s hand. Catra used all her strength to launch Glimmer into the hallway and then pull herself forward. 

The floor was now the wall but it didn’t matter, Catra and Glimmer began to run in the direction of the loading bay. Very few clones were in their way which perplexed Catra, putting her on edge. Arriving at the loading bay, she saw many clones fighting the princesses. Glimmer shot forward, taking the backside of Bow. Catra looked around for a minute, fighting her own inner turmoil. That was until she saw a clone ready for a strike on Adora’s backside. Catra sighed and jumped onto a pillar, using her feet to propel herself forward and onto the back of said clone. Adora turned around, surprised when she saw Catra pull the runestone out of the clone. 

“The runestone! Get the runestones!” 

___

Horde Prime’s metal corpse shook and began to shatter. Suddenly light engulfed the throne room, blinding Adora, Glimmer, Bow and Catra. When the light faded, his body was gone, leaving only the runestone in its spot. Bow took a step and grabbed it off the ground. He threw it in the air once then put it in his pocket. 

“We did it!” Bow exclaimed, jumping in the air and encasing both Glimmer and Adora into a large group hug. They started to laugh out of exhausted glee. Tears escaped all of their eyes and for once they all felt safe. The sound of the metal doors opening alarmed Adora. Looking up, she noticed a certain Horde Soldier limping out of the room. Adora reluctantly pulled herself away from the hug and started towards Catra. 

“Catra, stop.” She did. Adora stared at Catra’s backside with longing. She could tell Catra was nervous by the way her shoulders were tensed and her tail was curled against her legs. “Glimmer told me what you did. How you held information and made a plan to get out of here.” Silence. “How you saved her- saved Etheria.”

Catra let out a long sigh. “I didn’t save Etheria. The heroes did. I’m no hero.” 

“You can be. You don’t have to stay with the Horde. All that’s left of it is scrap metal anyway. Come, join us in Brightmoon.”

“I don’t know Adora.” 

“Please. It will be better there. You will be safe. We can be safe, together… forever.” 

Catra turned back, longing showing in her different colored eyes. 

“You promise.”

“Promise.”

**Author's Note:**

> hope you enjoyed! check out my other she ra works in the Bars. series. kudos and comments are appreciated.


End file.
